Parents often struggle to find an eco-friendly solution for the disposal of gently-used toys, as kids outgrow them. Despite their best intentions, children lose interest in their toys, leading to wastage. The challenge is twofold – finding a sustainable way to dispose of toys and addressing the financial strain on parents who continually invest in new items as their children grow.

I aim to develop a product that simplifies the process of buying and reselling toys, creating a user-friendly platform. The objective is to assist parents in not only finding an environmentally aware solution for used toys but also making the overall experience enjoyable while ensuring budget-friendly choices for both parents and children.

Questions were asked about how old they were, what their average income is like, what their pain points were when shopping for kids items, if they considered buying used items at the time, etc.

We were able to validate that the demographic information and pain points we hypothesized were correct, and that the target base was open to using a product like this.

Concept Development, Sketches, User experience, User Interface, Product Mockups, and an interactive high-fidelity prototype which includes dozens of fixes to problems found during research to speed up and improve the interaction.

Finished. Awaiting development to start and for the final launch to test results.

The marketplace space is competitive and there are several huge names that this app would be competing against in the peer-to-peer resale market.

I chose three that I deemed to be industry leaders to analyze. I went through each major screen and captured what I liked and didn’t like about it. Through this exercise, I was able to identify areas that we could learn from, as well as areas that we could improve on in our app.

Direct Competitors: Uptot, Toycycle, Prehugged (website only)
Indirect Competitor: OLX (app and website). Special focus on OLX’s Information Architecture for insights. Merged personal observations with user perspectives from Google reviews to uncover prevalent issues.

Low-fidelity sketches allowed for quick ideation.

The purpose of onboarding is Feature Promotion, so I made sure the app’s benefits are conveyed to the user as soon as they open the app. I created the illustrations to be self-explanatory so as to catch the users attention, who are habituated to skim through the text.

Users are primarily drawn to products and content, making it strategic to include a “skip” Call-to-Action (CTA). So it’s wise to add CTA for Explore, providing an escape hatch for users through guest login. Users can start with a guest session.

Log-in will get reintroduced once you are ready to Post/Enquire about ads. A limited number of onboarding screens, followed by the ability to skip them altogether.

Initially, I dropped Mobile Login option. However after further research, I realized it’s more convenient for users as they don’t need to remember a password.

Ensuring clarity with error messages is crucial, Hate those “Your username or Password is wrong”

The guidelines for pricing and photography gives a trustworthy and transparent environment for sellers. This ensures a positive selling experience and builds credibility for the platform.

The disclaimer articles emphasize our commitment to transparency, ensuring customers feel informed and satisfied. This builds trust between buyers and sellers, making the platform a reliable place for transactions.

Three questions users ask when they are exploring
“Where am I?”
“How did I get here?”
“How I get to [x]?”

What I did…
Ensuring users where they are in the site hierarchy by adding header to the page, making it easy to follow and get a broader scope when necessary.

Organized Product Discovery:
Introduction of categories streamlines user navigation, making it easier for buyers to find specific products of interest, hence simplifying product discovery. This strategic approach enhances the overall appeal and functionality of the Explore Page.

Promotional Incentives:
Vouchers and gift cards contribute to the platform’s marketing strategy, improving customer loyalty and encouraging engagement.

Product page has plentiful information, which is hard to articulate easily.

So how can I…
Help them quickly ponder upon which product to choose?
Help them choose a product that fits best in their interest?

Like any other e-Commerce products, customers can view details such as Product name, brand or seller name, location, price, offer applicable and description. The seller will have the flexibility to choose whether the product price can be negotiable or not.

Customers can contact the seller by call or chat. Directions are also provided to visit in-person.
If a customer chooses to negotiate on a particular product, clicking on the enquire option will open a chat screen with a preloaded message allowing users to conveniently edit and propose their desired price. Once an enquire request is made, seller will receive the request. Customer can wait until
the seller responds.

About seller page has a brief overview of that seller, which can also help users determine its credibility.

Search works best when the user has a brief idea of what they are looking for. If there is no result to show, the user ends up on a dead-end. So I thought of adding relevant search results for a search term.

I’ve introduced a more specialized set of filters, specifically designed for children’s products, including options such as age and gender. These filters cater to the unique requirements of parents, ensuring a more tailored and efficient shopping experience.

The final prototype was created with a polished UI and once again tested to ensure the quality of the UX was not compromised.
Two iterations were completed with minor tweaks in the design to eliminate all areas of concern or confusion with the users.

Once completed, the final prototype and design was ready to be developed

What I learned,

It was an interesting and challenging project for me, as I had to figure things out all by myself, as freelance product designer. From defining the structure, to creating engaging user flows, to creating attractive illustrations, I enjoyed every bit of it.

My knowledge has definitely improved from when I started this project by the time I wrapped it up. I came to understand that product design is a process that involves a cycle of feedback and iteration to refine and improve the design.

While this app may not revolutionize the world, its focus on enhancing the resale of used products aligns with my commitment to contributing to a more sustainable environment.

What could I have done if I had more Time,

To address more usability and accessibility issues, I could have conducted usability testing on more consumers.
To illustrate the reasons behind the selection of the colour, typeface, and artwork, I could have created an entire design system.
The application could have been more detailed in terms of architecture to build a few additional screens.

In conclusion, I was able to take a dream, verify that it can exist, and bring it into reality through research, testing, and design.